New York City / The Silence of Sound

Filmed in B&W. Handheld. No grading in post.

The dictionary definition of "silence" is "complete absence of sound" - yet in English literature, there's phrase "the sound of silence" which depicts a scene's atmosphere becoming heavy with emotion because of the lack of sound. We can hear that it is silent, we perceive the silence, and that perception is sound.

On the contrary, New York City is at the other end of the spectrum. There is no short of sound at any time of the day. The city is loud, vibrant, crazy and filled with liveliness, excitement, activity and energy. And one can be overwhelmed by external sounds in your face from all directions at times, that sounds of our own body can be forgotten: our own heartbeats, our breath, the flow of blood through our arteries near our ears, our emotions, our quietness, our mindfulness, our inner voice. That's one kind of silence.

Nevertheless, silence is always there, constantly trying to fill in the blank. We just have to stop and look for it, in the middle of chaos in the heart of Manhattan.